Cloud961 Magazine celebrated its first anniversary at Veer Boutique Hotel & Resort, Kaslik on the 26th of June 2014, with the presence of online community members, bloggers, Cloud contributors, clients, supporters and Cloud961’s loyal fans.

Publisher of the magazine and Chairman of Cornerstone Group, Bassam Karam, presented a round-up on the first-year evolution of the magazine, how it started, the phases and developments it went through and announced a highly ambitious development plan for the 6 months to come, notably featuring the creation of an incubator for bloggers, the launching of Cloud961’s online forum and mobile application, the start of Cloud961’s school of social media and more...

In one week, the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition, in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives, took thirty entrepreneurs from the Arab region to Silicon Valley, USA for a week-long immersive entrepreneurship program from June 8 – 14, 2014, as part of its Global Track- an ‘eye-opener’ on Silicon Valley’s massive resources.

This new track gave the entrepreneurs the possibility to participate in premier conferences and take part in diverse workshop, mentorship, and pitching sessions with experts, industry leaders, investors and other successful entrepreneurs.

Bader Young Entrepreneurs Program is launching its Startup Cup Business Competition for the second year in a row.

The StartUp Cup business competition aims to motivate Lebanese people who have entrepreneurial ideas or products to present them and to benefit from a mentorship program that will help turn their ideas into money-making businesses.

Bnooki.com allows anyone to find the best loans, accounts and credit cards from almost any bank in Lebanon, compare the results and directly apply

Bnooki SAL proudly announces the launch and upgrade of bnooki.com , the first banking comparison website in Lebanon. Bnooki.com enables consumers to compare a range of products including mortgages, loans, credit cards and accounts from more than 20 banks in Lebanon and submit an application to the one they choose for free.

Resilient. Pioneering. Innovative. These are just some of the words that best describe Lebanon’s entrepreneurial landscape. And Jamil Haddad, the latest entrepreneur to emerge from this world, fits the description entirely.

Born and raised in Batroun, Jamil is an adventurer at heart. Growing up, he always had a desire for new experiences and spent much of his time camping, enjoying the outdoors, and windsurfing at Batroun’s famous spot “Colonel.” That very spot inspired the name of Jamil’s new endeavor, the Colonel Project, a microbrewery that produces and fosters the culture of high quality craft beer, on a green platform in the heart of Batroun city.

An innovative social media website launched on Monday hoping to replace the cumbersome Facebook group to which AUB students normally turn to for campus inquiries. Campus Society, the brainchild of AUB alumnus Oliver Muller and Georgetown graduate Rashid Ajami, offers a more interactive platform to AUB users.

The start-up was launched by the tech-savvy duo at a crucial time when tensions have grown high on campus due to lack of transparency by the administration and a scheduled increase in tuition fees, compelling frustrated students to turn to social media to voice their concerns.

Omar Soudoudi, Managing Director at Payfort, says that e-commerce growth will remain at 25%, higher than any other region worldwide. According to Omar, the biggest opportunity in e-commerce in 2014 is directed towards mobile. “Currently, m-transactions represent 10% of total e-commerce spending, but it is expected to grow by almost 20% by 2015,” says Omar.